Lingering
by unifiedFiction
Summary: Despite having escaped the killing game in this life, the students who died in their previous lives feel lingering effects of the things that happened to them. Sometimes, it's a minor inconvenience. Other times, it is much more serious. Based on an AU by ask-the-dr-reset-kids on Tumblr. Reposted from an old account; re-reposted due to accidental deletion.
1. Chapter 1

Mondo was not a light sleeper. Waking him proved a difficult task for Kiyotaka every morning, regardless of how early or late the biker was supposed to awaken. It was a trait that carefully balanced on a point between endearing and endlessly frustrating; its status often hinged on how important it was to awaken him in a timely manner.

Sometimes, though, it was neither endearing nor frustrating. Sometimes, it was very convenient.

After several restless hours, Kiyotaka carefully slid out of his bed, cradling his aching head in his hand as he did so. He cast one quick glance over to Mondo to ensure he hadn't been disturbed. Once convinced the other was still as sound asleep as he had been five minutes prior, Kiyotaka smoothed out the sheets and blanket on his side of the bed before proceeding to make his way to the door. Along the way, a car drove by and shone its headlights at their window, illuminating the room through the cracks in the blinds and earning a visible wince from Kiyotaka. He covered his eyes until the offending light had passed, walking blindly through the doorway into the dark hallway. He followed the familiar path into the bathroom, leaving the light off as he opened the medicine cabinet, removed a bottle from inside, and closed the door. With a small sigh, he twisted the cap and shook the bottle until two pills fell into his hands.

The sound was far too loud. He gritted his teeth against the pain as he capped the bottle, sighing in frustration as the medication inside rattled again when he moved to return it to its proper place. Unwilling to break the silence again by turning on the faucet, he put the medicine in his mouth and swallowed quickly, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling that came with taking them without water. He hated being like this. Every sound was too loud, every light too bright; his head was pounding and he could hear his own pulse and was acutely aware of the feeling of his blood flowing through his veins. He wished there were a volume dial that could turn down his thoughts, as even they felt too loud.

It wasn't migraines. It wasn't any kind of illness. He had researched his symptoms, seen two different doctors; on the surface, there didn't seem to be anything wrong. And yet, time and time again, Kiyotaka Ishimaru found himself fighting not to show the public the pain that made his vision spin, that made his ears ring, that had made him vomit on more than one occasion. He found himself with tears in his eyes, trying desperately to convince his significant other that he was okay until eventually the pain became so unbearable that he finally relented, curling in Mondo's lap and shutting out everything the world had to offer except the warmth of the arms around him.

It was the worst at times like this. In the dead of night, while Mondo slept and Kiyotaka couldn't bring himself to wake him. He'd tried wriggling his way into the other's arms for comfort, but the soft snores Mondo let out were even louder when cradled against his chest. Much louder than Kiyotaka could handle. And now, here he was, sliding down the bathroom wall to sit on the cool tile floor pressing his hands to his eyes and wishing desperately that the pain would go away.

He wasn't sure how long he sat – ten minutes? Thirty? – before a sound from the bedroom finally caused him to look up. He listened carefully until finally he heard what he'd expected: a very sleepy voice.

"Taka? Where'd you go?"

Kiyotaka sniffled, wiping the tears from his eyes in the hopes that Mondo wouldn't see them. The last thing he wanted was for the other to worry about him more than he already did. Once he was confident in his appearance (or rather, as confident as one could be at three in the morning), he stood and opened his mouth to respond…

… and found himself cut off by a loud crash.

"Mondo?!" Ignoring his throbbing head, Kiyotaka rushed from the bathroom, rounding the corner to find Mondo on the floor. He stared as his boyfriend curled as small as possible, wrapping his arms around himself and groaning loudly in pain.

"F-fuck," he muttered breathlessly, "Ah, shit, w-why..?"

"Mondo!" Kiyotaka closed what little distance was left between them, his vision blurring both from the intense pain and from the new tears stinging at his eyes. He knelt down next to Mondo, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?"

He flinched back as Mondo recoiled at his touch, hissing and cursing loudly again. "I don't – fuck, I don't kn-know." He inhaled sharply, grinding his teeth and groaning loudly. "God damn, it hurts."

Kiyotaka swallowed at the lump in his throat. "W-what hurts?"

"_Everything_."

"Should I… Should I call someone?" He hovered, looking Mondo over. This wasn't right. Something had to be _seriously_ wrong to put him in this position. Mondo was always trying to be strong, even when they were alone together and he let his guard down. A memory of Mondo insisting there was no need to go to the hospital after being cut off by a car and wrecking his bike rose to Kiyotaka's mind. His decision was made to make the call before the next word was spoken.

"_Yes_."

There was a short moment of hesitation – only a fraction of a second long, but it felt like far too much – before Kiyotaka was on his feet, standing at the bedside table and scooping up his cell phone. Pressing the home button brought to his eyes a highly offensive light. He squinted, trying to block out as much as he could as he dialed the three numbers that would hopefully bring help.

"What can I do?" He said quietly.

There was a moment – a moment filled with a voice in Kiyotaka's ear, saying a quick "911, what's your emergency?" – before Mondo responded, but the response made Kiyotaka's heart sink.

"Fucking _kill_ _me_."


	2. Chapter 2

Me: Tries to add a chapter  
Also me: somehow manages to delete the entire story?

* * *

An hour in the waiting room, and they still didn't know any more than they had when they'd arrived.

A group of five sat crowded around in a circle. In his panic, Kiyotaka had sent a message to the group chat that had been created with his friends. Aoi, Makoto, and Chihiro had all been awake and responded immediately, quickly arriving with a half-asleep Leon in tow to help comfort Kiyotaka. Hiro was supposedly at the boys' apartment gathering clothes, phone chargers, and other possible necessities before making his way there himself.

"Hey, Taka?" Aoi said quietly, "are you sure you're alright? You're… really pale."

Kiyotaka nodded mutely, pushing down the urge to wince against the harsh, bright lights in the waiting room when he lifted his gaze to meet hers. "I'm just worried about him," he finally said quietly. He caught Chihiro frowning at his answer, but didn't say anything about it as Aoi gave a solemn nod.

"What do you think it was?" Makoto asked for what seemed like the millionth time. He looked just as confused as he did concerned. With a sigh, he put down the phone he'd been typing on furiously since arriving to try and investigate the issue. "I'm not seeing anything about his symptoms."

"Dude, Google's bullshit anyway," Leon said through a yawn. "The doc'll figure something out. It's why we're here, right?"

Makoto sighed. "I know. I just wish we could hear something."

The sounds of their conversation faded as Kiyotaka slumped in his chair, eyes squeezing shut. He knew he'd probably cry again – his mind was still racing, panicking, wondering what was happening to Mondo – and he'd accepted that. But everything was getting so overwhelming, and he just wished the pain would stop so he could focus on what was important. It was nice to have his friends there for support, but it would have been even nicer if every word they said didn't make the world close in even further.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his. He froze, cracking one eye open carefully to see whose it was.

"Come with me," Chihiro said, voice even and serious. There was a pause, and then a quiet "please." Kiyotaka couldn't help but nod and stand. "I'm taking him to the cafeteria," They added, looking to Aoi.

Aoi nodded. "That's a good idea! He really isn't looking so good." She eyed Kiyotaka for a moment before jumping from her chair. "I'll come too!"

"No," Chihiro said, shaking their head. The demanding tone took Kiyotaka by surprise, and by the look on her face it had the same effect on Aoi as well. "I mean… I'd like to talk with him in private, if that's okay. But I can bring you back something if you want."

The swimmer's eyes flickered between Chihiro and Kiyotaka for a moment before she slowly lowered herself back into her chair. "N-no, that's fine. I just… wanted to be there to help."

Chihiro nodded, their serious expression replaced by a cheerful smile. "I promise I'll call you if I need help!" Before she could answer, however, Chihiro's arm was hooked with Kiyotaka's, dragging him from the waiting room. "We'll be back soon!"

Kiyotaka followed wordlessly, taking one more glance in the direction of the doors that he knew contained the doctors who could answer all of his questions. Or at least, he hoped they could. Maybe doctors hadn't been able to figure out what was causing his headaches, but surely they could find out what had caused… whatever had happened to Mondo. It wasn't like something like that could come out of nowhere.

Right?

As soon as the door that separated the waiting room from the hallway closed behind him, Kiyotaka found himself bumping into Chihiro, who had stopped in front of him. He stumbled a bit, quickly regaining his posture and taking two steps back to give them space. "Ah, sorry, I-"

There was something being handed to him before he could finish. He blinked and looked down to see a pair of simple sunglasses in his friend's hand. The lenses were very dark – darker than anything one would wear for a simple fashion statement – and the frame was a simple silver metal. He stared at them for a moment before looking back to Chihiro's face with a confused expression. They were zipping up their bag with their other hand before looking back up to meet his gaze. Their expression was a mix of worry and… empathy?

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding, or embarrassing you or anything," Chihiro said quietly. "But I can tell it's hurting you again. These don't help very much, but at least the light won't be as bad."

Kiyotaka swallowed nervously, averting his friend's gaze. How shameful to make them misplace their worries during a time like this! "I, um, don't know what you're talking about. I'm perfectly fine."

When he looked back at Chihiro, he immediately recognized the expression. Their eyes glistened with tears that threatened to fall any moment. Had he spoken too harshly? "I'm s-sorry," they whispered. "I know it wasn't any of my business, but I talked to Mondo a while back and he told me about your headaches. I really didn't mean to invade your privacy. I was just worried."

"Oh."

Chihiro nodded, and spoke again before Kiyotaka could say anything else. "It's probably not the same – from what Mondo told me, it's a lot worse for you. But I… I've been having migraines myself. So I understand." They hesitantly lifted the sunglasses a little higher. "Please take them? I promise they'll help, if only a little."

Oh. Chihiro had been having migraines? Why hadn't he known? Kiyotaka frowned, eyes going from Chihiro's face to the sunglasses, then back to their face. "I… Shouldn't you keep them? In case you need them?"

Chihiro smiled. "I feel fine right now. Will you take them if I promise to take them back if I need them? I don't mind, if that will make you feel better."

Kiyotaka hesitated, but finally he nodded slowly. Even faltering slightly had already seemed to make them relax; he couldn't let Chihiro continue worrying about him, much less hurt their feelings by refusing. Carefully, he took the sunglasses from his friend's hands, unfolded the legs, and slipped them onto his face. Almost immediately the burning behind his eyes softened, the stinging pain inflicted by the bright hospital lighting quieting down to a dull ache. Just as Chihiro said, the eyewear hadn't cured him by any means, but it certainly made keeping his eyes open much more bearable.

Though he felt ridiculous wearing something like this indoors.

Chihiro looked at him for a moment before giggling quietly. "You'll have to get your own sometime," they said, still smiling. "Mine don't suit you at all. Or maybe they just don't go with your clothes."

"Hey!" Kiyotaka frowned, which only caused Chihiro to laugh again.

"We should go get Hina something from the cafeteria like I promised," they suggested, holding out a hand for him. "You, too. She was right; you're really pale. I know it's hard to eat when you're worried about things, but please at least try, okay?"

He really, truthfully wasn't hungry. But Chihiro was still smiling at him, and he found himself nodding in agreement despite himself.

Besides, Mondo would be happy to hear how much he was taking care of himself whenever the doctors let them talk again. Even if making his friends happy hadn't been enough to make it worth it, that simple thought did.


	3. Chapter 3

Chihiro and Taka had only been gone five minutes before Makoto was back on his phone. Typing, scrolling, reading, then sighing in frustration and typing something else. Hina had been texting off and on, keeping in touch with Hiro, and Leon was frequently nodding off on Makoto's shoulder until something woke him. Usually a frustrated sigh.

"Come on, man," Leon was saying again, "give it a rest."

"But I think I found something," Makoto said, reading. "It says here that symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis can show up anytime, and nerve pain –"

"Makoto, it's not MS, alright? Just stop!"

Makoto sat quietly for a long few seconds, staring at Leon. "I… I'm not… Leon, are you okay?"

There was a noticeable shift in his expression, from anger to confusion and then finally to guilt. Leon glanced between Makoto and a worried Hina before looking away from both of them. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Sorry I yelled."

There was another moment of silence between the three of them. Hina's eyes drifted back to her phone before she finally broke the awkward tension. "Hiro's leaving now," she said quietly. "He should be here in a few minutes."

Leon nodded, leaning against the wall next to him with a small sigh. He propped his elbow on the arm of his chair and let his chin rest in his hand before closing his eyes for what could only be another miniature nap.

Makoto looked back to his phone, screen still displaying the WebMD page he'd been looking at. He considered ignoring Leon's outburst and continuing his search, if only to keep himself busy and try to calm himself. After all, he could stop worrying if he knew there was a reasonable explanation for everything, right? An explainable disease could be treated. An unexplainable one…well…

"Sorry if I was stressing you out," he said after a moment. He locked his phone and slid it into his jacket pocket with a sigh.

"It's fine, man," Leon said without opening his eyes. "Seriously. You're worried. And I'm just being an asshole."

Makoto shook his head. "You're not. I know you don't want to be here."

Leon shrugged. "It's not that. I just don't like hospitals. It's not a big deal."

"Of course it's a big deal!" Hina said. "I'm sure Taka is glad you're here. It's really great of you to be there for him even when you're uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable," Leon said defensively. "I just don't like 'em. They're full of dying people, and they smell too clean, and the staff is always a bunch of assholes, and doctors think they're better than everyone else because they're making bank and our lives are in their hands, and one single fuck-up from them can kill someone, and –"

Makoto interrupted him suddenly. "Leon?"

"-Yeah?"

Makoto looked at him nervously. "You, uh, sound pretty uncomfortable to me."

Leon frowned. "Right. Well. I'm not." He huffed and settled back into his chair again.

"It's okay." Makoto adjusted in his seat and leaned on Leon's shoulder with a small sigh. "I am too." He closed his eyes, then adjusted slightly in his seat. He could swear he heard Hina giggle next to him, but opted to pay it no mind.

Closing his eyes made him suddenly realize just how tired he really was. It didn't take long for him to drift asleep despite the discomfort of the hospital chair's arm digging into his side. He hadn't necessarily meant to, it just sort of… happened.

Suddenly, he was in a strange room that he didn't recognize. He looked behind him to see a number of his classmates. Kyoko, Hina, Sakura, Byakuya; their expressions all differed, but all of their eyes were fixated on something ahead of them behind a chain-link fence. All he could see inside was a large round cage made of metal.

He took a step forward to investigate, but quickly froze at the sound of someone screaming next to him. He turned to see Taka lurch forward past everyone, fingers grasping desperately at the fence. "Stop this!" he cried desperately, "Please! Take me instead! Don't do this!" Tears streamed down his face as he shook the fence that stood in his way. "I'm begging you!"

"Wha-?" Makoto took a few steps forward to see what had everyone else entranced.

And that was when he noticed it. The sound of an engine.

And the image of a motorcycle inside of the round cage.

With Mondo sitting on it.

Taka's cries drew louder, more desperate, his pristine white uniform gaining stains on the pants as he fell to his knees. He continued to choke out more words through his sobs – more pleas for it all to stop, for him to take Mondo's place. His voice drowned out the sound of the motorcycle, even as it revved and started moving. Faster and faster, it drove around the cage like a show from a circus act.

Then there was a sudden, blinding flash of light. The air filled with static that made Makoto's hair stand on end. The crackle of electricity grew louder, the light grew brighter, until Makoto and everyone behind him were squinting to look at the cage. A pained scream came from inside, but it wasn't until Taka spoke again that the reality of what he was watching really sank in.

"Please…" he choked out, voice now barely audible, "don't take him away from me."

That was it. That was when Makoto realized.

He was watching Mondo Oowada die before him.

Soon he was the one crying out. "Wait, stop! You can't!"

"Makoto!"

"You can't do this!" He was screaming loudly enough that he could already tell his throat would sting from it later. "Let him go!"

"Makoto!"

He ran over to the gate and started to climb up it. "I said let!" His foot slipped. He kept climbing. "Him!" He felt a shock in his hand. "GO!"

"Makoto, wake up!"

There was another flash of light as he felt the electricity course through his body. He let out another yell as he fell, only for his eyes to snap open just before he could hit the ground. He let out a gasp, sitting up from his chair and nearly colliding with Leon's head as he did so. He sucked in several deep breaths and desperately tried to will his own heart into slowing down.

"… Are you okay?" Leon asked in a shaky voice. When Makoto finally looked at him, he realized that Leon looked downright terrified. He had an iron grip on Makoto's arm and was staring at him with wide, worried eyes.

"I…" A hiccup cut him off, which caused him to realize he was crying. "Y-yeah," he stammered. He brought his sleeve up to wipe his face.

Leon let out a relieved sigh. "You scared the hell out of me." He sat there for a moment, eyeing Makoto with a frown that slowly grew. "Hey… it was just a nightmare, right?" Makoto nodded, which Leon returned slowly. "Yeah, that's what I thought. So c'mon, calm down." He glanced around the room nervously before muttering one more barely-audible sentence: "People are staring."

Makoto drew a shaky breath, bringing his knees to his chest in an attempt to make himself as small as possible. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his breathing to even out or the tears to stop streaming down his face. Leon hadn't needed to point it out. He could feel other people in the room staring at him, and the embarrassment of it only served to make everything feel that much worse. His chest was tight, his heart was pounding. Everything hurt. He couldn't stop shaking.

Why did these nightmares feel so real?

"Hey, come on, man," Leon said, quickly putting an arm around Makoto's shoulders. "Don't do all that. I'm sorry, I just – shit." He sat there for a moment before standing up, tugging Makoto. "Come on. Come with me."

Makoto hesitated, not trusting his legs to actually support him with the way he was shaking. But he finally stood and allowed Leon to half-lead, half-carry him across the waiting room to the bathroom. He caught sight of a few more people watching them and muttered a quiet apology as he walked. Eventually Leon was closing the bathroom door behind them, locking it with a huff. "Don't apologize to them. You don't owe them squat."

Makoto nodded and watched as Leon yanked a few paper towels from the container holding them, turning on the water faucet and holding them underneath it for a moment. He sniffed and drew a shaky breath. "I just…"

"It's fine." Leon walked over to where Makoto was and kneeled down in front of him. He used the paper towel to wipe the tears from the other boy's face, hesitating long enough for Makoto to close his eyes before wiping them too. "Sorry I can't help more." Once he was done, Makoto grabbed him and pulled him in for a tight hug. Leon hesitated for several seconds of silence before carefully wrapping his arms around Makoto and rubbing his back in what he hoped was a comforting way.

"Thanks," Makoto said quietly. "I don't know-" he hiccupped again. "-what I would've done if you weren't here."

Leon opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a knock at the door. He frowned and glared at it. "Occupied!" He shook his head, then looked back to Makoto. "Anyway, don't worry about it. I-" Another knock. Leon frowned. "Hang on!" Another, louder and more irritated knock before Leon could continue his train of thought. "What the hell is your deal?!" he yelled angrily, pulling away from Makoto to go over and kick at the door. "If you're in that big of a hurry, there's other bathrooms! Fuck off!"

"Leon, it's fine," Makoto said, pulling his hood over his head and standing to his feet. "Let's just go."

"No, fuck that guy," Leon said with a huff. "We're staying here until you've calmed down."

"I'm calm."

Leon looked at him for a long moment. It didn't take long before Makoto broke eye contact with another small sniffle. "Yeah," Leon sighed, "we're staying here."

Makoto nodded, another hiccup escaping as he wiped his eyes again. "Th-thanks. For everything."

But it didn't matter.

No matter how long he sat in this bathroom, away from prying eyes, he couldn't shake the burning feeling of electricity under his skin.

* * *

A few things to be noted:

1: Makoto/Leon is a "canon" ship in this AU, but the two aren't together yet. They're comfortable around each other, though, and Leon has helped Makoto through attacks like these before. (There is a comic about it, but I can't figure out how to link it here...)

2: I'm also super unfamiliar with things like anxiety, migraines, or trauma (I think Makoto has a form of PTSD, even though he hasn't actually lived through the traumatic events? Not sure if that's confirmed by the author or not), so if I'm writing things really poorly I would love to hear how I can improve them!

3: I feel like the pacing for this fic has been... really weird. But nothing else felt right for this chapter? So I think it might just be me.

4: This is all I currently have of this fic, but I may go back and add a chapter or two to it. I always wanted to get around to Mondo being released from the hospital, or talking about Aoi and Hiro beyond them just being in the background, but... never got around to it after the original was taken down. So... I dunno. Guess we'll see!


End file.
